Chapter 159
Willow was eager, but she hesitated momentarily after reading the message on WhatsApp. She thought. Maybe the hacker has a point. I need to hold off and wait for the competition to deliver the final blone in Eliana”
“Alright, you’re right,” Willow finally typed. “What dirt have you dug up!”
Six replied, “it’s the kind of explosive news you wanted. I’ll ruin her reputation at school. It’s a scandal she was infamous for in the past?
Willow’s excitement was palpable as she typed, “Really? I can’t wait to see it!”
Eliana was crowned campus beauty at Ionstead University last semester, gaining significant fame. If this scandal came to light, her title as the campus queen would likely be in serious jeopardy.
Willow thought, “The more I think about it, the happier I feel
arena in Avragow,
The university tournament had been beating up for weeks, with the event scheduled to take place at the sports arena in
The five–day registration period was nearly
early over, and the buzz surrounding it was palpable. Many students from Isonstead University had signed up, and rumor had it that tickets for the event had already sold out
One of the biggest draws for participants was the grand prize: the chance to record a game music video, which attracted many
ny students from the acting department to sign up. The competition was fierce. There were even whispers that the event would be streamed live on Polar Bear TV
After school, Eliana and her team would practice at the nearby internet cafe. Over time, the cafe became their regular hangout, and they reserved a dedicated gaming room on the second floor.
Their teamwork grew stronger, and they perfected their strategies and team composition.
When the registration deadline passed, and the official website closed the sign–up portal, Willow and Wendy invested in traffic boosts to promote their teams. Their efforts paid off, as their squads included top–ranked players from the server.
The tournament’s preliminary round was scheduled for early next month, coinciding with the server rankings reset.
That evening. Eliana kept an eye on the leaderboard, and with a final posts, she claimed the top spot again. As soon as her proble refreshed, her view count shot up. After two years, her ID, “Shadow Reaper, was hark on top
That night, many gaming studios were waiting for the leaderboard to refresh. When it did, they immediately noticed a familiar ID, “ShadowReaper.”
“Wall, this ID looks familiar,” one of them said.
“Really Where have you seen it?”
“Let me think… Ah! I remember now! The captain of the super popular Tigers team in the university tournament–wasn’t it ́Sk
it ShadowReaper“””
I need to check this out”
They quickly logged onto the official website and confirmed their guess. The captain of “Tigers‘ was indeed “Shadow leaper To their surprise, the player behind the ID was a woman
The most shocking part was that the player was also the campus queen at Isonstead University! Incredible!
Female players were a rarity on the national leaderboard, with only about one in five reaching the top.
As they dug deeper into Eliana’s game profile, it was clear–two years ago, she had ranked high in several categories on the leaderboards. She was a versatile player, excelling in every role. After two years of silence, she was back at the top.
“Why hasn’t she played in the last two years one of them wondered.
“Could it be because of the Scholastic Assessment Test?” another person suggested. “She probably didn’t have time for games”
“Considering her age, someone else said, “she must be a freshman this year. It makes sense that she’d skip games in her last two years of high school to focus on studying for the exams.
Two years off from gaming, and it had earned her the best academic results this year. Even now, Eliana had the best professional grades in her class last semester.
1/2
her return to the national rankings.
No wonder Eliana’s the tram captain–the lus the
JA female captain, that’s pretty cool.
[I don’t think it matters if she’s on the leaderboard. What’s important is that Cameron and the others respect her]
[She’s amazing, and I won’t say
y it more than once|
Everyone in class knew Eliana had claimed the top spot on the leaderboard again, once more, she was the center of attention. At first, Willow and the others had doubted in, thinking she must have paid for her rank. But they were slacker when they logged into the game and saw her name at the top for themselves
Willow and Wendy’s team had been discussed because of their top–tier player from another server. They had enjoyed the spotlight for a while, now they realized Eliana didn’t need to ride anyone’s cottails–she was already on the leaderboard by her menit. That was the key difference between her and them
Eliana wasn’t just playing on any server–she was on the largest and most competitive one, a clear restament to her exceptional skills.
Willow and Wendy’s anger grew when they saw the ID “Shadow teaper” It reminded them of the time they’d clashed with Eliana in game and had to beg her for mercy. That recording was still in Eliana’s hands.
“Tr going to crush her in the university tournament, Wendly mattered, gritting her teeth.
Then she turned to Willow with a sharp gaze. “How did you not know about this? Deln’t you know I Elama played games?”
Willow fell silent. She thought, I should have known When she returned to the Garcia family, Eliana had already stopped playing games during the summer before senior year.
By the time she started at Instead University, Eliana was entirely focused on her major, working the hours to perfect her craft
The eventual champion of the out would be Wendy In Wallow’s eyes, Werady was Wendy had won and recorded the music video, sharing the spotlight with Eliana
was her greatest
“Forget it Wendy her determination clear. “This time. I’m winning the championship”
the competition. In her past life,
Willow’s thoughts turned cold. She pondered, I can’t just sit by and let Wendy take all the glory She wouldnt der Wendy have all the attention–she would play her cams right, keeping one eye in Eliana and our eye on Wendy
Willow thought, “Wendy wanted the crown? Well, I waited it just as badly‘ She smirked. The championship would be hers.
connections to discover which studio Wendy had lured. She’d
A dark gleam Hastard in Willow’s eyes. Two days ago, she had already used her comm secretly bribed the studio owner.
According to her instructions, the owner ensured the two actors Wendy had lured purposely underperformed
Although everything had been arranged, Willow knew they couldn’t make it too obvious
Her plan was simple–let Wendy:
yadvance, make her believe she was on
was on the verge
he verge of victory. Then, in the
e final
I match, it would all fall apart.
As for Eliana, Willow had already arranged for the hacker to leak damaging information.
When everything was set into motion, one rival would be defeated, and the other would be taken down. With both of Willow’s biggest competitors out of the way, the championsup would be hers.
Confident that everything was perfectly in place, Willow watched as Wendy stood confidently before her, almost unable to contain her laughter.
The preliminary rounds were fast approaching. There were seven universities in Dratora City, so Instead University had to select ten teams to advance before heading to the sports arena to compete against the other teams in the semifinals and finals, aiming to claim the championship
